


If it's the end of the world, let's party

by Paradoxicalpatton



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Character Death In Dream, Established Relationship, Hurt Stephen Strange, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Cuddles, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 09:50:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19461493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paradoxicalpatton/pseuds/Paradoxicalpatton
Summary: Tony and Stephen have been dating for a while, but Stephen's never told Tony about Dormammu.One night Tony has a nightmare and sees Stephen die over and over again in the time loop.





	If it's the end of the world, let's party

**Author's Note:**

> title from mika's 'last party'

_If you could look into the future, would ya?  
If you could see it, would you even want to?  
\- Mika, Last Party ___

__  
__  


__Tony had a lot of issues. The most significant one probably being his inability to trust people who aren't extremely close to him. Or, in other words, people who aren't Pepper and Rhodey._ _

__And Stephen._ _

__Stephen was different. Stephen was the sorcerer who thinks the ice cream flavour 'Stark-Raving Hazelnuts' is chalky. Stephen, the sorcerer who has a sentient cape with attitude.  
Stephen, the man who gave up the time stone in exchange for Tony.  
Stephen, the man who fell in love with Tony 14,000,605 times. 

__After Thanos was defeated, Stephen had just- disappeared. Which was not happening if Tony had anything to say about it. Eventually Tony found Stephen cooped up in a far corner of the New York Sanctum, his face buried in a pile of ancient scrolls and tomes. After a great deal of convincing, Stephen agreed to go out and get coffee with the billionaire. It became a weekly thing for the two of them, going out and meeting. Slowly, it became a daily thing. Until neither one of them was seen without the other. Somehow, they'd become inseparable._ _

__Which ultimately led to this._ _

__Tony being held tightly against Stephen's chest as they both slept, the harsh moonlight from outside being softened by the sheer curtains pulled over the large windows on the wall opposite the bed. They'd been dating for almost two years now, effectively being named the power couple of New York. Stephen was there for Tony when he had panic attacks, when the rogues would come too close to him, or just when he needed to feel something other than the cool metal in his workshop. And Tony, he was there for Stephen on the days his hands hurt too much to do anything with, or on the days where he would spend all his energy fighting creatures in other dimensions._ _

__Something had always felt off. It was like Stephen wasn't telling Tony something.  
On the rare occasion Stephen had a nightmare, he would just tell Tony that it was the night of his accident, before leaving the room and not returning until the sun had rised.  
Tony knew, he just knew that wasn't it. Stephen's reactions to those nightmares shouldn't have been that bad if it was just the car accident.  
But Stephen would never tell him the truth, and Tony knew not to push it. 

__Tony on the other hand, hadn't had nightmares in months.  
Until tonight._ _

__Tony had found himself in space? He wasn't sure exactly where he was to be honest. Looking around wasn't much help either. As he turned around completely, he saw a giant face with bright violet eyes. Tony felt like an ant compared to this thing. And the fear it instilled in Tony was nothing like the fear he got from Thanos. This- thing, whatever it was, it scared Tony senseless. What was it going to do? What should Tony do? He didn't know whether it was friendly or not, and frankly he didn't want to find out._ _

__He was about to walk away when he heard an all too familiar voice, the deep baritone freezing Tony in his place. "Dormammu, I've come to bargin."_ _

__What was Stephen doing here? Was he actually going to _fight _that Dormammu thing?___ _

____"You've come to die. Your world is now my world, like all worlds."  
Dormammu's rumbling voice was the last thing Tony heard before pieces of shrapnel and debris went flying toward Stephen, his orange glowing shields protecting him from the damage. Before he knew it, Dormammu's mouth opened and a bright beam of violet light was aimed directly at Stephen, his magic shielding him for mere seconds before the beam broke through, killing him immediately. _ _ _ _

____Tony's knees buckled and he dropped to the ground, staring at the spot where Stephen had died. His mouth was opening, trying to let out a scream of pain and anguish at the loss of the man he loved, yet he couldn't make a sound._ _ _ _

____What broke Tony even more though, was seeing Stephen come back and stand in the exact same place he stood just minutes before, saying the exact same thing. What was this? Why was he being forced to watch Stephen die over and over again? Once again, Dormammu killed Stephen, and the sorcerer coming right back seconds later._ _ _ _

____"Dormammu! I've come to bargain."_ _ _ _

____"You cannot do this forever."_ _ _ _

____"Actually, I can. This is how things are now. You and me, trapped in this moment, endlessly."_ _ _ _

____"Then you will spend eternity dying."_ _ _ _

____"Yeah. But everyone on Earth will live."_ _ _ _

____"But you will suffer."_ _ _ _

_"Pain is an old friend."_

______He watched as Stephen died again. And again. And again.  
This, this was quite easily one of the hardest things Tony had ever done. _ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony jolted awake, sitting up and pushing the duvet off him, running his hands through his hair frantically._ _ _ _ _ _

___________"Tony? Tony, love can you hear me? I need you to take deep breaths."_  
That voice, the one that was like a soft velvet. That was Stephen's voice. He was here. He was here comforting Tony.  
Tony looked up at the man sitting to his left, his blue-green eyes staring gently at his boyfriend. The older man slowly lifted a hand, moving to cup Stephen's face. He needed to feel him, to know he was safe. Stephen raised his own hand, carefully placing it over the top of Tony's, reassuring him that everything was okay.  
They sat like that for a few minutes in complete silence. Tony's head eventually dropping so his forehead was pressed up against Stephen's shoulder. 

______"Hey, sweetheart, do you wanna tell me what that was about?"  
Tony nodded slowly and pulled his head away so he could look directly at Stephen as he spoke. The other gently holding Tony's hands in his own shaking ones. _ _ _ _ _ _

______"I- I watched you die. Over 1000 times. But you did it willingly. You knew, uh- argh what was his name? Dormammu!- you knew Dormammu was going to kill you each time but you still went back. You didn't fight, or attack. You just wanted to bargain with him. But you died every single time and it was horrible Stephen."  
Silent tears made their way down Tony's cheeks, his eyes squeezing shut in an attempt not to remember the horrifying things he saw._ _ _ _ _ _

______"But it's fine. It was just a stupid nightmare, I know you're right here. You're safe. It didn't happen."_ _ _ _ _ _

______"Tony-"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"I'm fine Steph, I know it wasn't real. I'm alright, you're alright. We're both alright. Let's try and get back to sleep, okay?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"Tony, what you saw. That-" Stephen's voice hitched as he squeezed Tony's hands, "Tony that was real."_ _ _ _ _ _

______"What?"  
Stephen let go of Tony's hands and stood up, making his way over to the windows, his back facing toward his lover. _ _ _ _ _ _

______"Before I became sorcerer supreme, a sorcerer named Kaecilius used a spell to summon the dark dimension to Earth. To cut a long story short, I used the Eye of Agamotto to trap Dormammu, a powerful entity who ruled the dark dimension, in an endless time loop, until he agreed to leave Earth and take Kaecilius with him. In doing so, I died over a thousand times, to protect everyone on Earth."_ _ _ _ _ _

______Silence filled the room once Stephen finished talking, the only sound being the soft tick from a clock hung on the wall.  
Tony slowly got up and walked over to join Stephen, wrapping his arms around Stephen's stomach as tightly as he could. Stephen placed his hands over Tony's arms, feeling the cool wet tears on Tony's cheek against his back. After a minute or so, Tony broke the silence, his voice almost a whisper._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Why didn't you tell me?"  
Stephen turned around in Tony's arms, wrapping his arms around him and pressing Tony into his chest. Leaning his head down slightly, Stephen placed a gentle kiss atop of Tony's head. _ _ _ _ _ _

______"I didn't want to burden you with it as well."_ _ _ _ _ _

______"Stephen, I would rather share that burden with you rather than let you suffer with it alone. Please, just- don't hide anything like that from me again."  
Tony spoke quietly as he pulled away from Stephen, leading them both toward the bed and crawling back under the covers. _ _ _ _ _ _

______"I won't"  
Stephen opened his arms, inviting Tony to cuddle up against him once more. The two settled like that, muttering soft 'I love you's' to one another as sleep slowly began to overcome them. _ _ _ _ _ _

______"Did you really annoy him so much that he just gave up?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"Shut up and sleep Tony."_ _ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> chuck us a kudos and a comment xx  
> tumblr - paradoxicalpatton


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